My Frugal List: Week of July 30, 2018

It was definitely an interesting week. I was scheduled to work my 2 regular days and then I was asked to work an additional 3 on short notice. 2 shifts I was asked the night before which is easy to juggle. 1 shift I got a text at 9:20 in the morning begging me to come in and how quick could I get there. Several kids had pulled no shows or called out and it was pouring rain. Since we didn't have plans and I couldn't work in the garden, I went in all day.  Even though I am tired, I will like the money when I get paid. Into the college fund.

I did get fed the day I was called in on short notice. Our home office likes to do Break Room Surprises. They randomly select a building and get food catered for the day. I got there at 10 am and there were lots of donuts in the break room.


At lunch time, I was asked to set up heroes. So I, of course, had some. When I was leaving , my manager was setting up more food for the next shift. She asked me if I wanted any of the lunch stuff. So, I took home 6 pieces of hero and 4 donuts. I stopped at my son's job on the way home and gave him some for his dinner so that he didn't have to spend money.


Speaking of my son, he is bringing home lots of leftovers from work. Isn't he wonderful.


The garden is doing great. I have a few cherry tomatoes that are starting to turn red. I cannot wait. I have picked a few more cucumbers too which we are enjoying fresh in salads and plain as snacks. The peppers have gone crazy. There are so many on the plants. It is wonderful. I have also picked basil, thyme, parsley, dill, lettuce and string beans.


They wax peppers are doing the best right now. 


My sister came over to pick up Lip. She offered to take us out to eat for lunch. I had just gotten home and was in the middle of unloading groceries. I passed. YD was happy to go though. They ended up bringing me a chocolate milkshake and chicken sandwich. We chatted for a while and then she headed home. 


We ate well this week. We had pancakes, omelettes, steel cut oats, bagels, eggs, HB eggs, PB&J, grilled cheese, salad, pasta with my last jar of last years sauce, shrimp scampi, burgers, mac n cheese, soup from the freezer and leftovers. 


I also baked peanut butter cookies. They are so good. 


I also made 3 containers of food for the dogs. 

Becky over at Becky at Home mentioned a couple of weeks ago that her husband was calling their phone and insurance companies to try to get their bills lowered. Hubby and I thought it was a great idea so we are doing the same thing. With just a few small changes we are saving $36.50 a month which is $438 a year. Little things add up. 

My son mowed and weed whacked the yard. 

All laundry was washed on the cold, short cycle. It was hung on the line outside or inside on racks.

It rained several times this week so I only had to water the garden once. I save all water from washing fruits and veggies and drinking cups and pour it on my potted plants. 

Bills were paid online saving us the cost of stamps.

Being loyal to our mechanic and always paying in full saved us. Hubby brought the car in because it was leaking fluids. They were unable to look at it the first day but did the next day. It was a rusted clamp on the fuel filler tube. The mechanic fixed the problem easily and didn't charge us. 


A Shop Rite was opening nearby. I went to check it out. They were giving away some freebies and lots of samples. I got some cheese, fruit, bread and cookie samples. They also had some great sales for the first day.


I also got some school supplies cheap. YD already took some. I always buy school supplies ahead of time. We have a bin that the kids can take what they need. 



I did several Ibotta rebates. I hit $100 in just over a year. 


YD and a friend went to see a movie with my work passes. They brought reusable water bottles and snacks. The other mom and I carpooled. 

I sold several things on eBay, 2 CDs, 2 video games and a DVD. Lots of little things but still money in and clutter out. I ship everything in envelopes or boxes that were already used. The ink, paper and tape are all from my Staples rewards. It only costs me time. 

YD and I went to the library to get another of her mandated books for her upcoming English class. We both got more books and some DVDs to watch at home. 

Went out with 2 friends for dinner and used a gift card.  Gave a few items to one of them for their niece that YD no longer wanted. 

What did you do frugal this week? 








Comments

  1. Hi Mcoia and you did well to get all of the groceries and school supplies at discount prices and that is the time to buy them and store them in advance as I would imagine it would save a lot over the course of a year. The extra work hours you did will also help the college fund a great deal :).

    Our frugality savings added up to $487.35 last week :).

    Here is what we did to save money and got accomplished -

    Finances and earnings -
    - Banked more money into our home deposit savings account bringing us to 27.14% of the way there.
    - Made $21.80 by selling capsicum garden seeds saved from the gardens and 100 g of dried organically grown thyme from the gardens.
    - As both of our chainsaws gave up the ghost and I knew the owner of the repair shop wanted them for parts I organised a deal and he gave us $200 for both which recouped 55% of what we spent on our 2 new chainsaws :).

    Gifts and blessings -
    - A friend who owns a property nearby was being overrun with eggs from his chickens and gave us 3 dozen saving us $12 over buying them.

    In the gardens -
    - Harvested more French and English lavender and a lot of rosemary from the gardens as they needed pruning which we currently have drying.
    - Separated 497 g of organically grown dried thyme picked from the gardens saving $73.55 over buying the equivalent amount in the shops.
    - Picked 2.5 kg of cherry tomatoes from the gardens which we washed and froze in meal sized portions for the freezer saving $30 over buying them in the supermarket.
    - Cut, collected and split 3/4's of a cubic metre of Ironbark firewood free from a friends property closeby saving $150 over purchasing it locally.

    Have a great week ahead everyone :).

    Sewingcreations15.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is great that you were able to sell the broken chainsaws. I wish I had the problem your friend has. There is no such thing as too many eggs in this house but we don't have chickens. Have a great week.

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  2. I certainly did not do as much as you. but, I found clearance food items I can use for Thanksgiving. I always loved it when food was brought in at work. We even had some catered lunches and took home the leftovers. nice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am always willing to take home the leftovers. So many people I know won't eat leftovers.

      Delete
  3. What a great week. Free food, extra money working, lots of deals, and garden produce.
    You did great.
    Makes you feel accomplished. Blessings

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tired but lots did get accomplished. Have a wonderful week.

      Delete
  4. Excellent week! I've also recently started saving rinse water and extra water from water cups in a bucket to dump on my plants. Waste not, want not!

    Your food looks delicious!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. It is amazing all the little ways that can help save money.

      Delete
  5. Wow, you really scored this week. You are right all the little things do add up.

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  6. I'm glad the tips helped you, and you could save some money as well! My husband has continued working on getting things tightened up financially, now that he has the time to really look into things, make endless phone calls, wait on hold for l-o-n-g periods of time, and so forth. He's still trying to make sure we are not paying for things we are not using, and I think he has possible found another place in the car insurance that might save a little more. He's still investigating.

    I'm so excited because I'm supposed to get my car back this week after the extensive repairs it needed. I've finally conquered the clutch on my nephew's Mazda, so I'm not lurching around as much, but I'm sure I'm still a bit comical when I drive it! I still have been very thankful to have it to drive while my car is broken.

    Today, I need to preserve all the garden produce I picked this morning. I also got some fall crops planted after my husband tilled a small area where things were finished, so now there will be new veggies in a few weeks--mostly greens, like lettuce and spinach, but a few other things as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My family is starting to revolt on all of the salads I have been making. Good thing I like them. I have been giving lots of lettuce away. I have baby plants already growing so I am hoping that I have no gaps. I hope yours does as well as mine has done this year. lettuce is so easy and cheap to grow and you can get so much.

      That is great that Rob may have found more ways to save you money. We still need to call our phone/cable/internet provider. I am hoping we can save even more.

      Good luck on your car. That was very nice of your nephew. have a wonderful week.

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